


Sonic: Revival- Rivalries

by ToaArcan



Series: Sonic: Revival [3]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comic)
Genre: And Anti-Fiona was a disturbing little goblin, And violence, Contains scenes of domestic abuse, F/F, F/M, Minor Character Death, Moebius is a hellhole, Much like most of the other inhabitants, and other stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2020-01-24 15:06:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18573952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToaArcan/pseuds/ToaArcan
Summary: Scourge and the Destructix return to Moebius, ready to reconquer it, but find that Miles has not spent the intervening time resting. The younger fox has made preparations for such a return, and Scourge may have bitten off more than he can chew this time...





	1. Grudge

**Author's Note:**

> This arc features scenes of an abusive relationship, based on implications and subtext from the comics. I neither support, nor condone these actions. If you wish to skip it for this reason, I don't blame you.

** Sonic: Revival- Rivalries **

**  
Chapter 1 of 3: Grudge**  
  
  
“Myrddin! Where in Anarchy’s name are you!?” Miles called out again, reaching the antechamber at the bottom of the stairs.  
  
“Over here, Miles…” The older fox spoke up, voice echoing from one of the side rooms. The one he’d taken to using as a study, Miles noted.   
  
“Of course… not sure why I even asked…” He sighed, crossing the threshold. There, Myrddin Prower sat, hunched over a desk, pouring through another one of his tomes. “I’m done.”  
  
“Already?” He didn’t look up from the book, though his tail twitched. “It takes most at least a week to fully obtain the Marks of Mastery.”  
  
“Well, I’m overqualified,” Miles shrugged. “Scourge is back.”  
  
“I felt him too… strange… he’s close to here. A long way from Acorn,” Myrddin turned his page, continuing to read.  
  
“Likely he landed outside of my normal radius in an effort to hide his presence from me until he readied himself. He’ll head that way over land now, keeping his power suppressed.”  
  
“I thought you said he was an idiot?” Myrddin frowned. “That seems like a tactical decision.”  
  
“He  _is_  an idiot,” Miles frowned. “He’s had precisely zero education, the only part of his vocabulary that is extensive is his knowledge of swear-words, and I am 90% certain he doesn’t know how to spell properly. He smokes, despite the knowledge of the impacts on the body being well-documented. He’s a complete ignoramus. The only area of knowledge that he isn’t completely useless in is combat. He has half an idea of how to make a battle plan, even if his actual combat skills are more brute strength than technique.”  
  
“If you weren’t here right now, you wouldn’t even know he’s back,” Myrddin snapped. The younger fox sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.  
  
“First of all, I would. I had detectors placed all over the planet, each able to pick up any spikes of Anarchy, and register the energy signature. Probably the most useful results of Boomer and I collaborating. Mostly they’re used to detect newly-formed Beryl veins, but they have their alternate uses. Rule one: Always send scouts first,” He folded his arms. The sigils on his hands itched slightly. “Secondly, if he were smart, he’d arm himself with a Beryl stash of his own. He knows where most of them are. The fact that he hasn’t done so means he’s still underestimating me. Which, well… his loss.”  
  
“Hm, alright then…” Myrddin shrugged, returning to his reading. “I take it you mean to intercept?”  
  
“No. I’ll be returning to the castle myself, the faster route. Just because he’s tunnel-visioned, doesn’t mean I’m about to give up the chance to stack the deck in my favour. And if I want to pay him back for last time… I can’t think of a better staging ground,” He allowed himself a grin, then stepped closer to the elder fox’s chair, arms relaxing once again.  
  
“Leaving, then? Farewell, Miles,” He waved his hand dismissively. Miles’ tails arched behind his back, eyes shining purple.  
  
“One more thing, Myrddin… I do have to clean up, before I go.”  
  
  
Myrddin paused when he heard how close the young fox was standing, before Miles’ fingers grasped his hood, wrenching him out of the chair. Twisting, Miles dragged him overhead, hurling him from the small study and back into the central chamber. He landed hard, air forced from his lungs. Miles straightened, flexing his fingers before he followed.  
  
Myrddin sat up, aiming his hand at him. “F-Finge-”  
  
“Counter, Anti-Magic Aura,” Miles spoke dispassionately, a snap of his own fingers dispelling the magic around his target’s, before a brilliant glow shone from him, enveloping them both within a cold field of charged energy. “I’m disappointed, Myrddin. I would’ve thought you better prepared for this after all your former colleagues so mysteriously went silent after my visits. Then again, you never were one to care about others, were you? Probably didn’t even notice they were gone...”  
  
“That… that was you?” Myrddin stared up at him, eyes widening.  
  
“Of course it was me,” Miles’ lips split into a feral grin. “I made sure that I had learned all they could teach me, and after that… I didn’t need them anymore. I certainly didn’t need them teaching those secrets to anyone else. So I silenced them. It’s not personal, dear uncle… just covering my back.”  
  
“B-but I haven’t taught you anything yet! You have the Marks, but you don’t have anything else! None of my other spells and teachings!” He stumbled back as Miles drew closer, colour draining from his face as the aggressor laughed dismissively.  
  
  
“Oh, Myrddin… Yours was the  _first_  brand of magic that I learned, before I even started this quest of mine. Anything else, I picked up from the Cult of Ixis and its ancient founder.”  
  
“I-I have the secret arts of Anarchy, though! And only I can teach them to you!” He sank to his knees, looking up as Miles towered over him.  
  
“I’m afraid that’s where you’re wrong… Athair gave me the knowledge I needed there… When Jules massacred the Sentinels at the end of the war, he didn’t account for a rogue element, and the old sage taught me all I needed to know…” He reached down, his hand clamping around Myrddin’s throat. “Any last grovelling you want to get out?”  
  
“I-I know why your parents died! Why my brother went insane and murdered your mother! Why he tried to murder you!” Myrddin wheezed. Miles raised an eyebrow, leaning slightly closer, as his twin tails aimed at the elder, sharpening in the same motion.  
  
“Go on…”  
  
“I… Amadeus wasn’t your father. Not entirely. True, it was he that conceived you, but…  _I_  created you,” Myrddin gasped, watching Miles’ unmoving face for any reaction. When none came, he continued. “At the last Convocation of Mages, Mogul revealed to us a prophecy, one he had made himself… He predicted that there would come a time when all of Anarchy was brought to order, but he didn’t know when or how… Not willing to sit idly by, I decided to set it into motion myself. I would create the vessel through which Anarchy was unified, and I did. All I needed was a host… and your mother had such potential. When Amadeus introduced us… I realised that she was the perfect candidate. So I waited until he announced her pregnancy… and then I implanted my creation into her. Whatever their child would’ve been before was gone, erased, overwritten, and instead… it became you. My Chosen One.”  
  
“Fascinating,” Miles spoke flatly.  
  
“Y-you don’t believe me!?” He gasped, trying to pry the fingers from his throat.  
  
“Oh no, I do. I’m certain that you’re right. Problem is… I already knew that,” He shrugged.  
  
“You did?” Myrddin squeaked.  
  
“Of course,” He chuckled lowly. “I’ve known since I first learned about genetics.” He reached down with his free hand, tugging a strand of black, albeit greying hair into the elder fox’s line of sight. “This was a bit of a giveaway. Any other pleas?”  
  
  
Myrddin’s face darkened, and he snarled up at Miles, earning himself a raised eyebrow.  
  
“Is that not enough reason? I am your creator, your father! You  _will_  obey!” He growled, stopping short when the younger mage shook his head letting out a sigh.  
  
“Oh, ‘father’, how old-fashioned. If you wanted me to listen to that, maybe you should’ve made sure I was raised properly… as it was, while you ignored me and toiled away over your own studies, my formative years were spent with Scourge and Alicia… and if there’s one thing those two do have in common…  well, it’s  _patricide._ ”  
  
  
Miles’ eyes ignited, blazing purple as his fingers tightened around the old man’s throat, claws biting into his skin as the Mark on his hand lit up, and he felt the Anarchy begin to flow into him. Myrddin screamed, struggling and squirming against his iron grip, body twisting uncomfortably as Miles tore his essence away from him.  
  
Gradually, his spasms faded, his body slowing down before falling limp, the screams dying away at the same time, his eyes going white as Miles continued his assault.   
  
  
By the time Miles finished, Myrddin was no more than an emaciated husk, soulless and drained of all life and power that he once wielded. The younger fox stood tall, dropping the corpse dispassionately, before dusting off his hands.   
  
“Dismiss Anti-Magic Aura,” The cold feeling left the room, but only slightly. The torches lighting and warming the mountainous complex were lit by Myrddin, and he was long-gone now. Miles looked down at the body, and pointed his finger at it. “Disintegrate.”  
  
The thin beam lanced out, reducing the dead mage’s remains to a fine dust. The dirty work done, he stepped back, smiling with satisfaction. “Greater Teleport.”  
  
***  
  
A week after arriving back on his homeworld, Scourge’s end-goal was in sight. The Destructix had crossed into Acorn territory overnight, and now found themselves camped out with the Castle visible in the distance.  
  
The journey hadn’t been the smoothest. They’d had to stop to shake down a store or two for supplies. Typically, Fiona hadn’t brought what they’d need with her, intending on taking him back to Finitevus. That wound him up something fierce. Where did she get off, assuming to make choices for him? Fortunately, with the rest of the team taking his side- The wonders he could accomplish with well-chosen words- he’d been able to put her back in her place easily enough. More annoyingly, however, she’d actually argued with him for a moment, and it was apparent that she feared the doctor more than she feared him. He’d been quick to rectify that. Since then, she’d been quiet, but hadn’t protested. He was no fan of the silent treatment, but it was a step-up.  
  
As they woke up, he stretched in the morning gloom, pulling his jacket back on. The others were emerging from their own sleeping bags, while he had been alone in the sole tent that they’d managed to secure. Fiona was still refusing to share with him, much to his annoyance, but he wasn’t going to force anything until he was certain that her devotion to him was unshakeable once again. After all, there was time for those matters after he’d seen to Miles and Sonic.  
  
“Um, Scourge? Could I make a suggestion?” She approached him, eyes down. He frowned, but let out a sigh. At least her asking permission was a step-up from just contradicting his own leadership decisions.  
  
“Sure, whatever,” He grunted.   
  
“Well, I was thinking that… well, we don’t really know what they’ve got in that castle now. Chances are that they’ve prepared for us to come back, or maybe Alicia’s found some new powerful maniac to shack up with, I dunno. There could be anything in there.”  
  
“Hm… hate to admit it, but you gotta point,” He stuck a finger in his ear, twisting it for a moment, before pulling it out and wiping it on his jacket. She made a face, but his ‘admission’ seemed to have brightened her mood, which worked for him. “We better go shake down ol’ Doc Kintobor for a little advanced intel. He’ll know what’s up with them. Now go eat, we got a big day ahead of us.”  
  
“Well, at least we'll have the throne back by the end of it, right?” She brightened, smiling up at him.  
  
“Yeah.  _I_  will,” He turned away, catching her slumping slightly out of the corner of his eye. With any luck, the put-downs would only make her strive to get back in his good books, which would make for a handy incentive later on. If they just put her off, well, he could fix that too. “Tell the others to pack up, I’ll be over here, waiting for you all, so don’t take too long. You know how I feel about waiting.”  
  
“Y-yes, Scourge!” She ran off, and he smirked to himself as he watched her over his shoulder.  _Too easy._  
  
***  
  
Their approach to the kindly scientist’s tower base was far from stealthy, and they were quickly picked up by the outermost cameras. In the control chamber at the top, the skinny human sat at his desk, fingers tented as he chewed on his own lip.  
  
“Miss Rabbot…” He spoke softly, turning his attention to his sole combat-capable ally. “I hate to ask this of you… but do you think you have a hope of stopping them?”  
  
“Don’t think so…” She mumbled, leaning out of her Omega unit. “Against Scourge alone, probably… but all of ‘em? I don’t rate my chances.”  
  
Kintobor deflated, flopping back into his chair, pressing his hands into his face for a moment, before he snapped back upright.  
  
“In that case… please, make yourself scarce. I won’t allow you to get hurt or killed on my behalf,” He turned his attention back to the screen.  
  
“No way, Doc,” She spoke firmly, clenching her fists.  
  
“Buns…”  
  
“You gave me a second chance at life after I got sick and he threw me out. I’m not abandoning you,” She interrupted, frowning.  
  
“No-one would think less of you for running from this.”  
  
“I would. And that’s enough for me.”  
  
  
***  
  
Outside, the Destructix approached the front entrance unhindered.  
  
“Isn’t this guy meant to be a Robotnik? Where’s all the traps?” Lightning asked.  
  
“He’s like a mirror Robotnik. All soft and nonviolent. Technically this place is a medical facility, and he probably doesn’t want to accidentally harm his would-be patients,” Scourge explained, not noticing the uncomfortable look that Fiona and Simian shared behind his back. “Of course, that just makes it easy for us.”  
  
A few moments later, a hail of darts rained down on them. Predator and Frog both cried out in pain. The former had mostly managed to dodge, only to be struck by a single one. His head began to swim, and he stumbled, watching his amphibian comrade- who now more resembled a pincushion than anything else- collapse in a heap.  
  
Simian grunted, struck by two darts, but despite the feeling of the sedatives pumping into his body, he held firm, staggered but still on his feet. Scourge, Fiona, and Lightning had all evaded the darts.  
  
Moments later, an ear-splitting screech hit them, sending the four remaining fighters reeling, hands clamped over their ears. It ended as quickly as it began, leaving the quartet with a high-pitched ringing in their heads, and as they struggled to stand, a blue shape rocketed out of the trees, lunging down toward them.  
  
The Omega unit’s fingers closed around Scourge’s head, slamming him into the ground. Buns raised the mech’s foot, stomping down on his back as she held him down. A proximity sensor whistled, and her free arm swung out, knocking the two smaller Mobians aside, just as Simian bulled into her.  
  
To her surprise, he knocked her off-balance, shoving her back. Her thrusters fired in short bursts, steadying her as her feet dug into the soft ground. Apparently undeterred by her tranquiliser, the gorilla charged again, growling at her. Electing to respond in-kind, she launched herself toward him. She threw her fist forward, clunking against his jaw, but he barely flinched, grasping her arm before and throwing her to the ground.   
  
“Strong… but I don’t feel any of that,” She launched herself upright, arms outstretched. Simian caught her claws, struggling to hold against the momentum of her charge, but as he pushed back, the Omega armour’s chestplate opened, launching a fresh barrage of darts into him. He staggered, reeling as the sedatives oozed into his bloodstream. The armour’s hands lit up, electricity surging through him.  
  
Simian’s muscles locked, keeping him locked together with the robot as the shock tore into him, until she cut the flow, dropping him to the ground, smoking slightly, not getting up.  
  
  
“Scourge, are you okay!?” Fiona groaned, crouched beside the hedgehog, rubbing her stomach. He let out a pained grumble, punching the dirt.  
  
“Do I  _look_  okay you  **mindless idiot!** ” He roared, voice faintly muffled as his arm shoved her back. “Go back to fighting!”  
  
Recoiling, Fiona looked up at Buns, stalking forward, and lunged at her. Buns sighed, the mech mimicking the shake of her head, backhanding the vixen aside.   
  
“Yer a familiar face… but yer nothin’ like her,” She jeered, turning back toward the hedgehog as he stood up, wiping a trickle of blood from his split lip. ‘ _Gonna need to get some space…_ ’  
  
She launched herself upwards, engines burning as she rose.   
  
“Oh no you don’t…” Scourge growled, hurling himself after her. Too fast for her to react, he curled, spinning into her torso. She slammed back down, struggling to right herself.   
  
  
Lightning struck, knives piercing the back of her armour’s knee joint. The leg collapsed, arm reaching out to steady herself.  
  
“Dagnabbit!” She growled. Her engines fired, blasting the lynx away from her back as they propelled her toward Scourge and Fiona. Both of them jumped aside, but while Scourge cleared easily, Buns’ claws caught Fiona’s tail, dragging her back.  
  
“Oh no,” She murmured, before the metal fist clunked against her head as it smashed her down into the dirt. The proximity alarm whined again, and she whirled, just in time to blast Scourge with a wave of quick-hardening foam.  
  
The flood was enough to stall him, and as the sludge turned solid, Scourge roared in frustration, trying to pull himself free. Buns hovered, turning the armour to face him fully.  
  
“So ya brought another Fi into this… kinda surprising after what you did to the last one… I liked our Fi, y’know. She had her problems, but she was my friend, before you killed her. Still… as much as I don’t care for this weak little imitation of her, I’m not gonna give you the chance to repeat that,” She moved closer, brandishing her claws. “Now the Doc didn’t give me much in the way of weapons… but I can make-do with just strength.”  
  
“Oh, shut up!” Scourge’s eyes flashed purple, a matching blast of Anarchy shattering the foam. Buns recoiled back, but she had no room to dodge. He tore into the metal, carving through it before tearing the arm away from her shoulder. His foot slammed into the helmet, shattering the optics and kicking her away.   
  
Skidding to a halt, Buns rolled the armour onto its front, lifting herself up with her arm. The helmet of the Omega unit folded back, exposing the rabbit’s own face.   
  
“One arm… one leg… no helmet…  okay then…” She gritted her teeth, lunging back toward Scourge. He paused, eyes widening behind his sunglasses for a moment, before she was on him, punching him square in the face. The glasses broke as she knocked him off his feet, crashing down over him as she drew her fist back, ready to crush his skull.  
  
As her arm slammed down, he dodged, shifting sideways just enough to avoid the attack, glaring hatefully up at her. He lurched upwards, ramming his arm into the innards of the robot, tearing the core from it.   
  
With a whine, the armour shut down, engines cutting out, the remaining limbs going limp as it crashed down.   
  
“Oh no… no no no…” Buns wheezed, feeling the armour’s life-giving systems drop onto the reserve power, just enough to keep her alive, but not enough to run the suit’s own systems. It rocked backwards, unmoving.  
  
Scourge gave her a feral grin, wiping the Omega Unit’s oil from his glove as he stalked closer, kicking the suit fully over onto its back and climbing on top of it, perching on its battered chestplate. His hand shot out again, clamping around the rabbit’s throat, before wrenching her clear out of the armour.  
  
“S-Scourge, I-” She coughed, spluttering as he tightened his grip.  
  
“What’s that, Buns?” He asked, laughing quietly as he leaned closer. “I can’t seem to understand you. Are you trying to tell me that you need that dumb suit to stay alive? Aw, that’s too bad… You shouldn’t have gotten in my way.”  
  
Laughter growing into a full-blown cackle, he threw the infirm rabbit to the ground, and jumped off the Omega Unit, landing with both feet on her stomach. She let out a strangled shriek, and passed out.  
  
Stepping off his latest victim, Scourge looked over at his team-mates, most of them having taken quite a beating from the armour before he tore it down. He scoffed quietly to himself, making a mental note to take them to task over it when they were all conscious.   
  
He stalked over to Fiona, dragging her up by her arm. She let out a low groan as he pulled her upwards, wincing against the discomfort. “Urrngh… what… what’s…”  
  
“Wake up,” He snapped, shaking her. She didn’t respond, other than another groan, and Scourge frowned. If being gentle wasn’t going to work…  
  
  
Fiona recoiled, yelping in pain as the back of Scourge’s hand struck her cheek. She staggered back on unsteady legs, hand reaching up to the already-forming bruise.  
  
“Scourge-!” She yelled, cut off when he roughly grabbed her wrist, dragging her toward the door without a word. For a moment, the urge to pull her arm free and confront him for what he’d just done filled her, but she fought it back, stamping it down along with the hot, stinging feeling building up in her eyes, threatening to spill out. She simply let him lead her along, into the tower.  
  
***  
  
The defences inside Kintobor’s base of operations were similarly non-existent, and finding the kindly old doctor took no time at all, even with Scourge having to slow down for Fiona. The wards themselves had been locked down, behind thick steel blast doors, which made him smirk to himself. Those doors wouldn’t stop him now… Maybe before he had become his newer, stronger self, but definitely not now. Still, he wasn’t looking to attack the patients anyway, at least, not currently. Maybe later…  
  
Before long, he was able to prove the futility of the meagre defences, blasting through the blast door that sealed off the scientist’s office, storming in and throwing him against the wall.  
  
“Alright, Doc. Let’s make a deal.” He grinned, pulling up a chair and sitting himself down on it. Fiona lingered at his side, silent.   
  
“W-what do you want?” He stammered, looking up at the hedgehog.  
  
“Well, when I got here, I just wanted info on Miles. But, then, you had to set Buns on us, and she roughed my guys up something fierce. Kinda pathetic on their part, but eh, beggars can’t be choosers, and they were my only source of minions in that damn jail. And now Buns has used  _your_  mech, that  _you_  gave her, to beat ‘em all up. I mean, just look at Fi,” He gestured to the vixen’s bruised face, a clearly-feigned look of indignation on his face.  
  
“Y-you did that to her… I saw it on the cameras...” The human murmured quietly, immediately regretting it when Scourge’s eyes narrowed and he leaned closer to him.  
  
“Care to repeat that, Doc? Because I coulda sworn I just heard you  _contradict me._  And it ain’t a good idea to disagree with the King, y’know?” He spoke quietly, lowly. Kintobor backed up as much as the wall would allow him to, as Scourge reclined back again. “But hey, if there’s a conflict of opinions here, let’s ask the lady herself. Fi, who gave you that shiner? Me or Buns?”  
  
His fingers tightened around Fiona’s shoulder, and she looked down at the floor, before speaking up, her voice barely above a whisper.  
  
“It was Buns…”  
  
“There we go,” He turned back to Kintobor, a smug grin on his lips. “ _So_ , if you’ve got those dodgy cameras, you probably saw what I did to your little guard-bunny. She’s probably still alive, but without the suit, well, she won’t be for long. So here’s the deal. I’ll let you save her, if you patch my guys up first. As for the info I want, well, you’re gonna give that to me for free. And if you don’t wanna… well, I’ve already shown how little your blast doors can do against me. The rest of your patients aren’t safe.”  
  
“Okay, I’ll tell you everything! I’ll heal your team!” Kintobor recoiled, getting to his feet and making for the door. As he took the first step, Scourge’s leg shot out, sweeping his from under him.  
  
“Info first. Send a bot to deal with the girl. You’ve got more important things to worry about.”  
  
“Alright, alright…” He stood up once more, instead going to his computer. “Miles left not long after you were arrested. After that, he’d reappear for a week or two in some far-flung corner of the world, then vanish again. Sometimes he was absent for a month at a time, sometimes even moreso. At first I couldn’t discern what he wanted, but then I heard about the victims.”  
  
“Victims?” Fiona asked. Scourge rolled his eyes, as if Miles killing people was cause for alarm. He’d watched the kid reduce someone twice his size to ash with a single gesture when he was four years old, leaving a body behind just meant he was getting sloppy or showy or something else that made him not a threat.  
  
“He wasn’t simply travelling. Whatever his goal was, he left a trail of corpses in his wake. And not just random people…” Kintobor replied, bringing up images on the computer screen, one at a time. An elderly mammoth. A sage trio consisting of a lobster, rhinoceros, and bat. Two echidna, one white with a shard of blue stone embedded in his forehead, the other in tribal dress with purple energy flowing around him. A kindly-looking overlander woman with green hair. And finally, a yellow fox with black hair and a beard, with a startling resemblance to Miles himself.  
  
“Some of these look familiar…” Fiona mused.  
  
“Yeah, that one’s definitely Finitevus’ counterpart, and this one looks like that Mogul guy,” Scourge added.  
  
“These are the Archmages of Moebius, or at least, they were,” Kintobor replied. “Some of them have done great things for this world, but their sanctums have always been hidden. At least, until Miles visited them. Now, all of them are dead, even his uncle, Myrddin Prower. It seems Miles killed all of them.”  
  
“So, being a nerd runs in the family. Noted,” He shrugged. “That still doesn’t tell me where he is now. I wanna know how soon I can find him, not his goddamn life story!”  
  
“He returned to Acorn a week ago, but he’s changed… he’s different now.” Kintobor replied, the image on the computer changing once again.  
It now depicted the fox, standing tall among the Suppression Squad. Alicia had draped herself over him, nothing shocking as far as Scourge cared, she’d always been after the most powerful one in the room.   
  
‘Standing tall’  _was_  an accurate turn of phrase, though. He now had a good inch or two on most of the others, and he’d taken on the full uniform, not just the coat. He’d switched the grey out for white, though, and a heavy-looking black cape hung from his pointed shoulder-armour.  
  
“He returned looking like this… and he carries himself more upright now. The cape is odd, but he hasn’t taken it off at all.” Kintobor shrugged. “That’s all I can tell you. He hasn’t been doing a lot since he got back.”  
  
“Hmph, okay. Go tend to the sick, Doc. We’ll be waiting right here…”


	2. Nemesis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ahead of Scourge's revival, Miles looks back on their shared past, steeling himself for the clash between himself and the Destructix.

** Sonic: Revival- Rivalries **

**  
Chapter 2 of 3: Nemesis**  
  
  
Miles strode into the throne room, cloak billowing behind him. He walked up to the seat, where Alicia Acorn sat, frowning slightly when the fox didn’t bow.  
  
“He’s here. He hit Kintobor’s tower half an hour ago. He’ll likely be with us come morning,” He announced.  
  
“Right. Where do you want the rest of us for this plan of yours?” Alicia sighed. “You still haven’t told me what you’re intending to do.”  
  
“And I won’t, because I shan’t be needing any of you. I shall be both the bait and the trap for the web I have spun. You and the others can stay away from the front lines and let him right in. You won’t slow him down any,” Miles waved her off dismissively, and her fingers tightened on the arm rests of the seat, a snarl crossing her face, which faded as she caught the passionless purple gaze.  
  
“I thought the intel from last week said he had a team with him!” She protested.  
  
“Them? They’re the Prime counterparts to Mogul’s guards, I’d only be killing them a second time over.” He shrugged.  
  
“And Fiona?” The squirrel pressed, folding her arms.  
  
“Oh, don’t worry about her. I won’t kill her. Once this is done, she’s all yours,” Miles let out an exasperated sigh. “Now go. I need to set the board up.”  
  
“Fine,” Alicia growled, standing up and heading for the door, pausing as she passed him. For a moment, her expression softed, and she put a hand on his shoulder. “Good luck, Miles.”  
  
“Thank you, Alicia, but I won’t need it,” He gave her a smile, walking up the steps to take her place on the throne. “He has no answers for what I am now, and you know that.”  
  
“Still…” She began, before shaking her head and vacating the chamber. Miles settled into the seat, tenting his fingers, closing the door behind her with a gesture.   
  
“ANIMA, when Scourge and his comrades arrive, deactivate the defences and escort them straight here. Make sure we aren’t interrupted, by anyone,” He spoke to the empty room, waiting patiently as the lifeless avatar of the AI appeared beside him, bowing before turning her blank eyes toward him.  
  
“`By your command, it will be done,`” The lynx spoke, her voice devoid of emotion.   
  
“That will be all, leave me,” He commanded. She bowed again, and disappeared in a small flash of purple. The fox grinned, relaxing into his borrowed chair, steeling himself for the looming battle.  
  
  
He had first fought Scourge when they met, eight years prior. After the deaths of his parents and the destruction of his home, Myrddin had whisked the young fox away to isolated Westside Island, but whatever his reasons for saving his nephew were, they had quickly been lost as he became engrossed in his own studies, leaving the boy to fend for himself.  
  
At first, the other children had bullied him for his mutation, the second tail marking him as a freak in their eyes. That had lasted until he had lashed out, hurling what was more a wad of unchained Anarchy than anything else at one of his tormentors, reducing the boy to a fine red mist and a scorch mark on the ground.  
  
After that, few bothered the fox, and he became a law unto himself. Myrddin certainly wasn’t stopping him, and nobody else  _could_ , until a strangely familiar blue hedgehog arrived in the village.   
  
Miles had just finished blasting another newcomer who felt like playing hero to atoms when the hedgehog approached. A good four years older, but wiry and lean, clad in a leather jacket with dark glasses over his eyes, Miles thought little of him, until the older boy threw the first punch, and he actually felt it.  
  
Their battle had laid waste to the village. Scourge, or Sonic as he’d called himself then, surprised Miles with his strength and blinding speed, and Miles didn’t understand just how this thug could’ve kept up with him until he felt the Anarchy radiating from him.  
  
He lost the battle. The older Adept was simply too strong and fast for him to keep up with. To his surprise, however, the hedgehog offered him a hand, and a place with his team. Miles’ power had impressed him, and he wanted to learn the now more refined Anarchy Bomb. That was how Miles had come to be a part of the Suppression Squad.  
  
His welcome had not been a warm one. Apparently, Princess Alicia remembered him from before the death of his parents, and her memories were not fond ones. Still, he had the support of his new friend, Sonic. It somewhat surprised him that the two were in a relationship, especially considering how often they argued and fought with each other, but love and romance were two concepts he had little knowledge or interest in, so he ignored it for a time.  
  
Then he met the girl, and that would be the second time that he truly fought Scourge. They’d sparred, of course, as Sonic taught Miles to fight harder, and Miles shared some of his more basic Anarchy powers, and even a couple of the advanced ones, but when Fiona walked into his life, that changed.  
  
At first, she’d seemed sweet. She claimed that she wanted to be a nurse, and joined the Squad to take care of their injuries. Alicia had accepted this, having their own medic was better than shaking down Kintobor every time someone needed patching up, after all, and the vixen was skilled at her job. Miles wasn’t afraid to admit that he was more than a little smitten with her, either.   
  
Then Sonic and Alicia had another of their fights, and while Alicia had rather publically shacked up with the son of one of her father’s lieutenants, Jeffery St. Croix, Sonic had gone straight for Fiona, and everything changed.  
  
Once she was with him, Fiona’s mask slipped, and a cruel, sadistic streak came to the fore. Far from caring for her patients, Fiona only cared about causing them pain as she operated, the knowledge that made her skilled as a doctor serving equally well for a torturer. Worse, she only encouraged Sonic’s increasingly violent tendencies. Even when they were directed at her.  
  
Miles protested. He argued with Sonic over the ethics of getting together with someone that a friend already had feelings for. He’d argued that, as much as she liked it, Fiona should avoid someone who was willing to harm her, for her own safety. They’d ignored him. Sonic didn’t care and Fiona liked his vicious attitude.  
  
  
Opting to push Sonic and Alicia back together, he had looked into removing St. Croix, and discovered the skunk trying to pull the Queen’s father back from the Void, deep within the bowels of the palace. In fact, gaining access to the Void so that he could bring back Maxx was the sole reason he’d approached her in the first place.  
  
Seizing his chance, he pushed the skunk into the Void himself, and reported the treachery to the others, but it didn’t work. Instead, Alicia moved her attention onto Patch instead, and Sonic and Fiona only grew more mutually destructive, Sonic growing angrier and angrier with her, and more and more frustrated that Alicia seemingly no longer cared for him.  
  
It came to a head when Sonic opted to kidnap Alicia’s pet, threatening to kill her if she didn’t give him what he wanted- The monarch had turned one of her former friends, a lynx named Nikki, into ANIMA, and now kept the body that had been left over as a pet. Even now, Miles found it best to not question the squirrel’s more possessive habits.  
  
He had been sent personally to save the lynx, fuelling himself with a Beryl. Confronting Sonic in the confines of a house, he gave the hedgehog no room to move, and, for the first time in his life, defeated Scourge in a real fight..  
  
They would fight again, moments later. Returning in triumph to the rest of his allies, Miles learned that Fiona had opted to taunt Sonic, hoping to provoke another beating. She’d gotten her wish, but Sonic just didn’t stop. Miles rushed back, but all he found was the vixen’s battered body. She used her last breath to mock him one last time, and expired at his feet as he pleaded for her to stay with him. In hindsight, Miles could only think of it as a waste.  
  
Sonic had been there, fists already bloodied, and slammed him through the wall, into the open. As Miles had tried to channel his grief into power, Sonic laid into him with all of his strength, and the Beryl chose that moment to run out of energy, harshly draining Miles’ stamina.  
  
  
When he woke up, Sonic was gone, and he wouldn’t see him again until their next battle.  
  
Alicia had agreed to marry Patch, wanting to gain control of Mercia, but had then taken ill, and Patch blamed him. He had brought in a doctor so sketchy that his last name was  _Quack_ , who had announced that, medically, she was fine, but she was suffering the effects of a wasting curse. To Miles, or indeed any mage worth their salt, the symptoms of Witherweed poisoning were plain enough to see, but that had only made him more of a target.  
  
Miles’ angry defence only made him look worse in the eyes of his more mature comrades, and he was forced to flee. Patch assumed regency, and sent bounty hunters after him, but he killed them all with relative ease, until Sonic found him.  
  
They’d fought again, but he was no match. Tired, hungry, and weakened by his rough life, the fox couldn’t muster the power to overcome his former mentor. Sonic mocked him, both for his weakness and for getting outplayed by Patch, but ultimately let him go, advising him to take a more direct route.  
  
For what it was worth, Sonic’s advice had been on the money. He taught himself to master the specific spells he needed, and returned home, now clad in a Moebian Royal uniform. He exposed the poison that Patch had with him, demonstrated the true effects of the wasting curse by reducing Quack to an emaciated skeleton in mere seconds, and healed Alicia of her maladies.  
  
Then, he had played his master-stroke, and cast  _Soulbind_  on the monarch and her would-be assassin, promising Patch that, from then on, any illness or injury that Alicia sustained would be inflicted on him as well, though the reverse would not apply.   
  
  
For a moment, he had dared to believe that his quarrel with Sonic was over. For all the pain he had caused, for all the heartache he had suffered over Fiona, the hedgehog had ultimately given him the motivation he needed to remake himself and cripple the only remaining rival he had in his pursuit of power. In saving Alicia’s life, he had become her new favourite, and his formidable abilities, both with Anarchy and with magic, made him a force to be feared the world over. He was free to dedicate his life and energy to his studies and push himself ever further.  
  
It was a fool’s belief.  
  
  
A few years later, Sonic returned a new man. His fur green, teeth sharp, and two ugly welts carved out of his chest. He called himself ‘Scourge’, and he spoke in a rougher voice, damaged by the cigarettes he’d been so fond of, and he’d brought a comrade. A ghost from their shared past.   
  
Fiona. Not the same Fiona that they’d scrapped over before, she was still dead, but a girl with a similar look, and the same face. There were differences, of course. Her body was less scarred, and the smirk she wore never quite reached her eyes, a pale imitation of their Fiona’s sadistic grin. Still, she was Fiona enough for Scourge’s purposes. With her present, Miles found it impossible to focus on the fight. Every instinct told him to protect her from Scourge’s inevitable wrath, but all that got was a steel boot in his face, and Scourge punching him clear through a pillar. It was clear that he’d gotten stronger, and their fifth battle ended with another defeat for him.  
  
  
For a moment, it stung. Beforehand, they’d been almost equals. Sonic held the edge in a few areas, but Miles too had his own advantages. But now, Scourge was on a whole separate level in terms of physical might. Miles could never hope to overcome that strength, were they to meet on even terms.   
  
He simply could not win like this, but he had one last advantage over Scourge: His brain. He’d been smarter than the hedgehog even when they’d met as children, and his wit had only grown sharper, while it seemed Scourge’s had done the opposite, now fuelled entirely by a rage and egotism that had steadily grown over the years. The key to defeating Scourge was not to fight him, but to make him defeat himself.  
  
He had approached like a friend. A humbled man, seeking reconciliation with his old ally. It worked perfectly, the moment Miles admitted his supposed inferiority, Scourge accepted his lies. They’d talked then, as friends and comrades-in-arms.  
  
For the most part, Scourge bragged about what he had achieved in the Prime Zone, and for a while, Miles pretended to be impressed, until the topic of Fiona came up.  
  
“ _Fi? She’s my greatest prize yet,_ ” He had smirked. “ _Thing about the Prime Zone is that it’s like the total opposite of ours. Or like, we’re the opposite of them, I don’t fucking know know, shit’s confusing._ ”  
  
He always hated Scourge’s vulgar language, but he opted not to raise a complaint. After all, this was valuable information. “ _Do go on._ ”  
  
“ _So this Fi is like the total opposite of our Fi. When I met her, she was kind, and gentle, and loyal to her friends. All that dumb mushy stuff. Kinda sickening, really. But she also had, like, a fuckload of insecurities. Anger issues, abandonment issues, anxiety, claustrophobia, the works._ ”  
  
“ _Whatever happened to, well, in your terms, ‘Don’t stick your dick in crazy?’ Should I find Rosy and tell her that your preferences are leaning more in her favour now?_ ” He smirked. A sarcastic comment to sell his false friendliness, and Scourge ate it up, laughing slightly.  
  
“ _Funny, funny, but she’s not that kind of nuts. Not actually nuts, but broken enough in just the right ways to play some mind games with. So I did. I picked at all those little flaws and pressed all her buttons until she was eatin’ outta my hand, and then I nudged her in just the right ways until she became basically just like our Fi._ ”  
  
“ _Not to burst your bubble, but you hated our Fiona. You murdered her._ ” Miles frowned.  
  
“ _Nah, see, she’s not completely like our Fi. Since I made her, I was able to leave out all the annoying parts. This one’s headstrong enough to mouth off, but she doesn’t like it when I punish her for it. She reacts properly, y’know?_ ”  
  
“ _And you don’t think she might run away from you?_ ”  
  
“ _And go where? I made sure she burned all her bridges when she left with me, if she goes back to the Freedom Fuckers then they’ll just throw her in jail, and she’s more afraid of being locked up than she is of me. Normally that’d bother me, but in this case it works in my favour. And that’s not even the best thing about her!_ ”  
  
“ _I’m sure you’ll elucidate me on the rest._ ”  
  
“ _Well, first off, like I said before, I made her that way. Stuff’s always better when it’s your own work, y’know?_ ” He gave Miles a smug grin, clearly proud of what he’d achieved. Miles had never really rated the hedgehog’s ‘conquest’ particularly highly, though. Scourge had been quite open about the various issues Fiona had, and taking advantage of those was hardly impressive.  
  
“ _The best part, though, is who she was with before me. None other than my blue-tinted weakling of a counterpart. She’s a permanent reminder, both to him, and to me, of which of us is better._ ” Scourge grinned. Miles rolled his eyes. Ever since their first encounter, Scourge had been fixated on his mirror image, and measuring himself up against him.  
  
“ _Why do you care about him?_ ” He tilted his head. “ _What’s the reason for this obsession?_ ”  
  
“ _It’s not an obsession!_ ” Scourge snapped, fist slamming against the armrest of the throne. “ _It’s just… gah, he’s so annoying. He’s a self-righteous prick, and he thinks he’s so much better than me because he sticks to some antiquated ideals! I just wanna drag him down, push him over the edge! And I could do it too! I know I could!_ ”  
  
  
“ _And how do you plan on doing that? You’ve already taken her from him,_ ” He’d felt bitter. It was far too easy to imagine himself in Sonic’s place. “ _Humiliation hasn’t worked. So how else are you going to drive him crazy?_ ”  
  
“ _I don’t know..._ ” For a moment, Scourge looked defeated, head bowed, fists and teeth both clenched. “ _I could kill his friends, I guess?_ ”  
  
 _So simple,_  Miles thought, but didn’t say. “ _I’m not sure that’s a good idea. One tends to not want to invoke fury like that. If you did manage to push him over the edge by doing that… he’d focus all of his anger on you. And even then, it probably wouldn’t stick. You’d have to lure him into doing something morally questionable, and make sure he doesn’t regret it in the long term. Even that is merely the foundation. Such a process would take time..._ ”  
  
“ _To hell with waiting! I got other things I wanna do, I’m not gonna do this slowly!_ ” Scourge growled, folding his arms grumpily. It took all of Miles’ willpower to not roll his eyes.  
  
“ _Why do you even want to corrupt him anyway? Why not just kill him?_ ”  
  
“ _He acts all righteous and sanctimonious about what a great guy he thinks he is, but he’s had it all handed to him on a plate! He’s got it easy, while I’ve had to claw my way to the top! And he thinks he can talk down on me, when he’s got a charmed life? No way._ ” Scourge ranted and raved, not uncommon for him, Miles mused to himself. Back then, he’d simply snapped his fingers, as if in realisation.  
  
“ _If he has everything he ever wanted… take it all away. You took his girlfriend. Take the rest. You conquered this world so easily, after all… why not go for a repeat performance?_ ”  
  
“ _Dunno if I could do that. All the really powerful guys on our world are hippies and pacifists, but over there, they’re conquerors too. And I’m not really sure I wanna cross Finitevus._ ”  
  
“ _If you’re so scared to face them… well, you’ll have the Squad on your side. We can help._ ” He’d lied through his teeth. It was something he’d become good at.  
  
“ _I should put you through the wall for that one… but nah. You wanna help? Because if you do, I think I can do it._ ” Scourge grinned.  
  
“ _Of course, Scourge…_ ” Miles had turned and walked away, grinning to himself as he left the room. “ _What are friends for?_ ”  
  
  
Their next battle had come as a result of the mutiny. While largely successful, it had ultimately resulted in Scourge unleashing his Super form for the first time, and Miles had lost that fight. He didn’t really consider that one much of a fight, with hindsight. But still, it had given him ideas…  
  
When Scourge was arrested, and his Fiona vanished during the battle, Miles had found himself a new goal. One he was now one step closer to achieving. And yet, as his quest finally came to a conclusion, his old foe had returned once more. One more obstacle to remove…   
  
  
  
***  
  
The Destructix set off the next morning, patched up from the previous day. Fiona hadn’t said a word to Scourge all night, but he could live with that for now. Currently, he was far more preoccupied with what exactly he was going to do to Miles once they met face-to-face. Truthfully, he didn’t particularly want to kill the fox, but after seeing his new appearance, he couldn’t wait to shatter his newfound self-importance…  
  
Currently, it seemed that would be easier than he’d expected. Nobody had stopped them on their route to the castle. The gate had opened when they approached, and none of the staff tried to sound any alarms. None of the Suppression Squad appeared to fight them. Instead, Alicia’s creepy AI pet had arrived and escorted them straight to the throne room, before vanishing. Simian pushed the heavy doors open, and they stepped forward into the dimly-lit room.  
  
  
Torches, burning with purple fire, lined the walls, casting the chamber in an eerie light. Almost everything valuable had been removed, as if in anticipation of a fight. Finally, at the opposing end of the room, reclining in a throne raised on a dais, sat Miles, his face shrouded in the gloom, save for the glowing points of purple light shining from his eyes.  
  
  
“Welcome home, Scourge… You’ve been away for far too long,” He spoke calmly, his words measured. “And Fiona, I didn’t expect to see you back here again, but it seems those lessons aren’t sinking in… And I see you’ve brought some help. Odd, didn’t need it last time…”  
  
“Yeah, well, last time you stabbed me in the back. I need some guys I can rely on,” Scourge snorted.  
  
“Learning from your mistakes? That’s a new one on you…” Miles jeered. “I must say I’m quite disappointed, though. I expected you to be here when I got back. I thought I’d have to fight you from the moment I set foot in Acorn… But alas, you were just a few days too late.”  
  
“Yeah, well, getting outta the Zone Jail wasn’t the easiest thing in the world, even for me, and someone decided to take her sweet-ass time getting there,” He glanced at Fiona, who squirmed a little, taking a step back. “Still, I’m back, and honestly, I’m disappointed. I was expecting a fight, but the other scrubs aren’t even here! Where are they?”  
  
“Oh, around here somewhere. I asked them to not be present. Last time we met, you defeated myself and them single-handed. It’s high time I returned the favour, don’t you think?”  
  
Scourge laughed, long and loudly, some of his comrades joining in. He remembered that fight. He’d fought off the Squad and the Freedom Fighters combined, and Miles had been powerless to stop him. How did he expect to win now?  
  
“You’re outta your nerdy little mind if you think you can take me, let alone with backup from them! But I’m glad you brought that up, because I came here specifically to pay you back for that little betrayal. The others too, but you’re top of the list!”  
  
“Then try me, Scourge,” Miles spread his arms wide. “I’ll even let you take the first hit.”  
  
  
The hedgehog grinned. There was no way this wasn’t some kind of trap, but if Miles were underestimating him so much that he believed he could take them all on alone, well, he wasn’t about to let that stop him.  
  
He lunged, charging the length of the hall, up the steps, and slammed his fist square into Miles’ chest, and for a moment he thought he’d won already. A hit that strong would’ve stopped any normal Moebian’s heart, and it would seriously hurt an enhanced one, like the two of them.  
  
But as the feeling registered, and he realised that striking the fox had been like punching a brick wall, it gave him pause. It didn’t really hurt him as such, but his fist had been stopped dead, jarring his whole arm.  
  
Then Miles’ eyes flashed, and something invisible rammed square into his gut, lifting him off his feet. The force carried him the length of the hall once again, his back meeting the masonry above the door with a thud, before he hit the ground.  
  
  
“Scourge!” Fiona whirled around, already starting toward her fallen partner, when Miles suddenly appeared in front of her, a loud boom throwing her and her comrades back, knocking them from their feet in the process.  
  
Simian stood firm, his right fist thundering down toward Miles, but the fox caught it without looking. The punch stopped.   
  
“How in the world…” The ape growled, struggling in vain against the smaller figure’s unnatural resistance as he turned his head toward him, meeting him with a piercing violet stare.  
  
“ _Wilt._ ” He spoke, his voice echoing for a moment. The sigils on the backs of his gloves lit up, and violet sparks rippled up the length of the gorilla’s limb. Then, with a horrible  _squelching_  sound, the arm withered, and Simian screamed as he watched the fur fall out, the skin turning black and shrivelling up as the musculature dissolved away to nothing, until the arm was little more than a twisted, gnarled length of necrotised flesh.  
  
The rest of the Destructix reeled back as their mightiest member sank to his knees, screaming in agony as he clutched the dead limb, Miles watching dispassionately. Then the fox shifted, dodging a blur of green as Scourge returned to the fight.   
  
It was only momentary, however, as Miles’ foot snapped out, catching him in the gut. In another display of his newfound strength, the kick speared the hedgehog into a wall, cracking the stonework as he turned his attention back to the team.  
  
“Take him down!” Fiona yelled, and they moved as one, save for Simian, still nursing his arm.   
  
Lightning arrived first, dodging away from Miles’ sight, the mage dodging and weaving, sometimes teleporting as he kept facing toward his assailant. The ninja never took the direct route and attacked him head-on, but even with Predator joining his assault, getting behind him was proving impossible, until the hawk straight-up tackled Miles, who snatched him from the air and threw him down. Seizing his chance, Lightning raced in, but as he finally got to Miles’ back, the fox’s twin tails lashed out, slicing into his torso and arm, forcing him to drop his knife.   
  
He sidestepped Frog’s tongue, hand snatching it before it could return, as his tails blocked another swipe from the recovered Predator.  
  
“ _Shock Claw,_ ” His hand enclosed itself in a sparking talon, electricity surging from the claw into the amphibian’s trapped tongue. Frog shrieked as the shock hit him, muscles seizing up as he channeled into his victim. At the same time, he blocked another of Predator’s attacks, as Fiona charged, launching herself into a jump-kick. “ _Warp Hole,_ ”  
  
Just as she drew close, a black void opened directly in front of her, between her foot and Miles’ face. Unable to stop herself, she fell into the portal, only for the exit to spit her out directly behind his head, sending her crashing into Predator. Both hit the ground in a heap, as he twisted, swinging the paralysed Frog into the pair of them.   
  
Finally, Simian charged back in, now howling with rage rather than pain. His withered arm hung uselessly at his side, his good hand ready for another swing at his tormentor.  
  
“ _Chain Lightning._ ”  
  
A storm of glowing chains erupted from Miles’ hand, wrapping around the gorilla’s body, before jumping onto Lightning, binding him as well, and finally diving into the heap of bodies. Gripping the chains with one hand, he brought his free one down on the source, flooding them with electricity.  
  
He held the shock for twenty seconds, before the chains faded into the aether, and they crashed gracelessly to the floor. And yet, Simian still stood, body smoking, arm still useless, pure hatred and rage etched onto his features.  
  
He charged Miles once more, throwing all of his remaining strength behind the punch, but as he brought it down, another Warp Hole opened, and the gorilla’s fist slammed into his own chin.  Already weak, he staggered backwards, dazed by the force of his own blow.   
  
“ _Brainwipe._ ” Miles snapped his fingers, and Simian finally crashed down, drooling dumbly. He’d be a vegetable for the next few hours, more than enough time to finish this, Miles mused, as he turned back to where Scourge had extracted himself from the wall.  
  
  
“Ha, not bad, Miles. Not bad,” The hedgehog laughed, applauding slowly. “I gotta say, you weren’t all talk. But then I wouldn’t expect any less from my former sidekick. You get those new tricks from those wizards you killed?”  
  
“Of course. That’s why I slaughtered them. To make sure they couldn’t teach anyone else,” Miles replied, folding his arms as he squared up against his former ally.  
  
“Yeah, makes sense. You gonna use all that magic guff to make our fight lame and boring?” Scourge asked. “‘Cause I gotta say, I kinda missed fighting you. The powerup did a lotta good for me, but it did make our battles a little lame. It’s no fun when it’s one-sided!”  
  
“No, Scourge. I shan’t use my magic against you. I won’t need it,” Miles smirked. A smarter man would’ve seen the trap, but Scourge didn’t. He lunged, charging forward, as the fox responded in kind.  
  
  
Scourge struck first, just as he expected to, dodging around Miles’ arms to drive a kick into his side, but the fox didn’t even flinch.Just like the earlier punch, it felt like hitting something solid and dense.   
  
Miles’ hand lashed out, and he punched Scourge square in the jaw, knocking him off of his feet. A nauseating crunch made it clear to both that the blow had shattered his cheekbone. Reeling from the pain, he couldn’t stop Miles stomping down on his back. Scourge screamed.  
  
“I thought you said this was a fight…”  
  
“Shut up!” Scourge swung his arm up, Anarchy exploding in Miles’ face. He stepped back, arm coming up to shield his eyes instinctively. Freed, the hedgehog scrambled to his feet, rushing away before looping back in, launching a spindash toward the fox.  
  
His tails slashed out, batting the spinning hedgehog aside. He uncurled, screeching to a halt, before racing back into the battle. He surged forward, bringing his full speed and power to bear against his one-time friend.   
  
Miles moved  _faster._  
  
He closed the gap quickly, tearing through the wave of pressure that covered Scourge’s body, grasping his neck before hoisting him off the floor. He grabbed his arm, pulling against the grip as his legs kicked against Miles, without impact.  
  
He gave the hedgehog a grin, as purple fire surged down his arm, searing his throat and fingers, holding it there until he stopped struggling. With his foe subdued, he straightened, lifting his body into the air, floating in a matching aura.  
  
  
“I… I thought you said… you weren’t gonna use the magic…” He wheezed, still trying to pull slightly against the claw at his throat.   
  
“I didn’t. This isn’t a flight spell, that wasn’t a fire spell, and I haven’t used an enchantment to make my skin as hard as rock…” Miles replied. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Fiona pushing the still-twitching Frog off of her as she and Predator stood up.  “Ah, excellent timing. Fiona… can you explain to Scourge the basics of a…  _Turbo_  form?”  
  
“What’s that?” Scourge demanded, as Fiona began to speak up.  
  
“It’s Tails’ lame Super form. I saw it once, but the only change between him and Tails’ regular look was that…” Fiona stopped mid-sentence, and her eyes widened as she looked up Miles, hovering above her head, wreathed in violent fire as he effortlessly countered their attacks and made even Scourge look weak by comparison. “The only change was that he… he wore a cape.”  
  
“Thank you…” Turbo Miles grinned, as Scourge’s eyes widened.  
  
“You’re Super!?” He roared.  
  
“Not quite,” Miles replied. “Remember when I said I’d pay you back for defeating me and my team? You were in a transformed state when we last fought, Scourge. That was what I intended to replicate. Of course, I knew that even  _you_  would not be dumb enough to charge into a battle with an obvious Super form, so I had to resort to this weaker one to lure you in. Now that the ruse is over, however… if you want Super… I can provide.”  
  
The aura flared violently, and immediately, the colour drained from Miles’ fur, turning it an ashen grey. His red coat and boots faded into white, while his already-white trousers, gloves, and shoulder-pads turned black. His eyes opened, black voids illuminated by purple irises, and a dark grin spread itself across his face.  
  
Super Miles hurled Scourge down into the floor, cracking it. He lay, beaten and bruised, among his fallen comrades, struggling to stand. Fiona moved to pick him up,  but he swatted her hands away, forcing himself upright. But just as he found his feet, the chains returned, binding the entire team in their grip, before the shocks began, sending the whole gang reeling. He hovered above them, watching them twitch and squirm with a smile of satisfaction.  
  
“Ha… To think you even believed you could defeat the Suppression Squad,” He jeered, cutting the flow. The mercenaries fell limp, unmoving. “Even without this new power, you would’ve posed no threat to the team as a whole. I just saved my servants and comrades some time. Now… farewell...”  
  
He raised his hand, Anarchy flaring violently, building into a larger blast in his palm as he looked down at them, aiming the first shot on the group.   
  
Before he could unleash the power, however, the ground beneath them opened, a golden ring swallowing all of them, before snapping shut.  
  
Miles raised an eyebrow, looking at the ground where they had once stood as he lowered himself to the floor. The colour returned to his body, and he staggered for a moment, the energy drain fortunately softened by him still being in his Turbo form.  
  
“Ah well… there’s always next time.”  
  
  
As Miles landed, the door opened, and Alicia ran in, halting beside him.  
  
“What happened, where are they?” She asked, and Miles shrugged.    
  
“Someone warped them out before I could finish the job, but they’ll be back. Scourge doesn’t have the capacity to resist coming back for another shot, and he got only the barest minimum of my power,” He replied.  
  
“And Fiona?” She added.  
  
“If you can get hold of her, she’ll be easy to tame. He’s already turned on her,” Miles answered, folding his arms. “Of course, that’s both good and bad news, given what he’s like.”  
  
“Indeed… Well keep me informed as to her whereabouts,” She frowned, striding back to the throne.   
  
“Of course, my Queen,” He offered her a bow, before removing himself from the room, warping back to his study. True, with the power he wielded, he could easily be the new king, and both he and Alicia knew that she couldn’t stop him, but he wasn’t. He chose not to. After all, the throne had been the cause of so many problems for Alicia and her family, normally from people who wanted it for themselves. Even Scourge had taken a swing at it, after all. As far as he was concerned, Alicia could keep it, and keep engaging in the petty squabble over the crown.  
  
  
He was aiming somewhere  _higher._


	3. Monsters, A to D

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saved from death at Super Miles' hands by Finitevus, Scourge finds the echidna's goals echoing his own, but reaches the end of his rope with Fiona...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I do not condone or support the abusive actions of Scourge.

**Sonic: Revival- Chapter 12  
  
Rivalries, Part 3 of 3: Monsters, A to D**  
  
  
As consciousness slowly returned, Scourge became aware that he was floating. In what, he wasn’t sure, but from the feeling of plastic pressing into his muzzle, covering his mouth and nose, the weightless feeling of his limbs, and the sting when he tried to open his eyes, it was definitely a liquid of some sort.  
  
He growled into the oxygen mask, becoming aware of electrodes and needles sticking into his body. He tensed, trying to channel his powers, to blast whatever he was contained within apart and escape. Whatever Miles had done after he was knocked out, he wasn’t going to accept any part of it.  
  
Yet, no power came, no Anarchy  _or_  Chaos flowing, and he forced his eyes open in shock, as he tried to physically tear himself free, ignoring the pain it caused, when he clocked the figure outside the tank, staring back at him with a rictus grin.  
  
Not Miles, but Doctor Finitevus.  
  
The echidna was flanked by two strange figures- Large, rounded heads, faces like ancient masks with expressionless mouths and glowing crimson visors. Long, segmented arms rested on the ground, as their relatively smaller bodies rested on short legs.   
  
“Welcome back to the land of the living, Scourge,” The echidna’s voice sounded in his ears. “It took longer than I would’ve liked to get you back here, but I can assure you, you will not be leaving this time… We have so much work to do...”  
  
  
Scourge felt something pump into his neck, and his eyes drooped shut, head spinning for a moment before he lost consciousness.  
  
***  
  
Finitevus turned away, glancing at the two Guardian Droids.  
  
“Report to me when he wakes up. His Anarchic power makes him unsuitable for the… contingency, so I shall move ahead with that while he… recuperates,” He commanded. The machines gave no verbal response, merely bowing their large heads as the echidna walked out of the room.  
  
Next door, the other five members of the Destructix lay on hospital beds, still unconscious. Positioning himself in the middle, he took a deep breath. The spell he had prepared for this moment, his final contingency in the schemes he had prepared, the backup plan he had been working on since his first setback, had taken months to complete.  
  
Fortunately, he had just the right pieces to complete the work, all back in one place. He had laid the groundwork for it when he had recruited the team, in fact, it was the entire reason he had chosen them.  
  
Scourge would never have followed Fiona’s lead. Not in a million years. Even if he had wanted to return, the fact that Fiona had suggested it would’ve made him reject the idea out of spite. Nothing made him angrier than being bossed around by those he viewed as ‘inferior’, and the list of people that he  _didn’t_  consider inferior was vanishingly short.  
  
Of course, Scourge had taken them to Moebius, and exposure to the alternate realm had provided just the right amount of destabilisation to complete the preparation of his plan.  
  
Raising his hand, black energy arced into it for a moment, before he punched himself square in the chest. Dark lightning surged out from him, before his hand began to phase into his body. He snarled, gritting his teeth from the pain, holding it in place for a full minute. Eventually, he tore it free, and sure enough, a small ebon orb, burning with matching fire, rested in his palm.  
  
His fingers opened, allowing it to float up for a moment. Then it twitched, and split in two, both halves quickly regenerating, forming two separate wholes. One fused straight back into his body, before the other split into five, each fragment burying itself in the chest of one of the mercenaries.  
  
They jolted, mouths parting in silent screams, eyes opening wide, sclerae black, irises yellow, as they writhed on their beds for a moment. Finitevus watched, grinning to himself as dark auras, each matching his own, flickered into being around them. They burned for a moment, before fading away, leaving the group to pass out again.  
  
Finitevus crumpled to his knees, clutching at his chest as he gasped for air. Being forewarned about the strain of performing the spell was little protection from the actual result. Still, it was done.  
  
“Ungh… ugh… What… what happened?” Fiona’s voice stirred him from his stupor, and he rose to his feet, moving to her side. Her breathing was light, and her eyes had returned to their normal colour.  
  
“Just a little healing, Fiona,” He replied, keeping his voice steady. “You took quite the beating from Mister Prower’s counterpart, but fortunately, I was able to save you.”  
  
“Uh… thanks, Doc…” She replied. “Everything still hurts…”  
  
“I can imagine… Rest easy for now. You’ll need your strength for what comes next,” He gave her grin, and left as she slumped back into the bed, closing her eyes.  
  
***  
  
Finitevus returned to his lab, where an inert Guardian Droid waited. Parts from it had already been scavenged for some of his other projects, but this wouldn’t require anything too technical. Slashing his hand across the machine’s right arm, his corrupted Chaos scythed through the metal, cutting it off. Lightning sparked from his fingertips, disassembling it, as he repeated the process with the other arm.  
  
Bringing both of his hands up, the arcane electricity flowing over the broken parts, pulling them back together, in a new shape. Fortunately for his purposes, the smaller parts of the assembly, the finger, and the joints within, weren’t much larger for the droids than they were for the intended recipient.   
  
Gradually, the new limb pulled itself together, brimming with shadowy power. It would be an… adequate replacement for the ape’s own dead limb. He passed it off to another of the Droids, sending it off to make the operation while Simian was still out cold.  
  
  
A few hours later, the Guardian Droids informed him that Scourge had awakened. Leaving his studies, he made his way down to the lab where he had left the hedgehog.  
  
Scourge had been removed from the tank, and now sat on a nearby bed, wiping the remaining fluid off of himself. He looked up as the echidna walked in, and frowned.  
  
“Alright, what do you want?” He growled. “You do the creepy tube shit and then you just let me out? What’s going on?”  
  
“There will be time for explanations shortly, Scourge. For now, get dressed. We have much to discuss,” He replied. Scourge frowned as the robot handed him his jacket and shoes. The glasses were gone, evidently they had been disposed of after they were broken. He grumbled, but quickly redressed himself, and stood up.  
  
“Alright, let’s talk, then?” Scourge shoved his hands into his pockets. Finitevus nodded, and walked out of the room, beckoning him to follow. “Not warping?”  
  
“The Black Sanctuary isn’t something you can simply teleport around. In fact, it was specifically designed to disrupt such abilities, outside of a few areas,” Finitevus replied.  
  
“Isn’t, like, using Warp Rings your whole thing? Why make a base somewhere that they can’t be used?” Scourge raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Ah, a good question!” The echidna grinned, looking over his shoulder. “This isn’t merely a regular fortress, hidden away on Mobius. The Black Sanctuary was constructed in a small plane of its own. The only way  _in_  is via teleportation, and if it’s targeted to the wrong area, it will go badly awry. The correct landing spot is an area which only I can show you.”  
  
“Huh, okay then…”  
  
As the duo passed the ward where the other Destructix had been left, neither noticed Fiona lean around the door, creeping after them.  
  
***  
  
Finitevus led Scourge through the corridors, eventually reaching a small chamber with a computer monitor set up on the desk. It whirred into life as they approached it, and the echidna turned, plucking something small and dark from the collar of his follower’s coat, before plugging it into the computer.  
  
“You had a bug on me!?” Scourge yelled, grabbing hold of his cloak. He barely flinched, shrugging himself free of the hedgehog’s grip.  
  
“Of course I did. Did you think I would let someone as predictably unpredictable as yourself roam wild and free, without any means to make sure you were staying in line? Of course not. It pays dividends to keep a close eye on your allies, and make sure they don’t turn against you… Something you’ve no doubt learned the value of...”  
  
“Fine,” Scourge growled, and folded his arms, leaning against the wall. “So what’s the relevancy of it?”  
  
“All in due time…” Finitevus turned back to the computer, and with a few clicks, brought up a graph, showing two lines. Neither was completely straight, rising and falling, but both showed different trends. One, in purple, stayed mostly at the same level, aside from one large spike, followed by a dip to below the average, before it returned to normal, while the other, in green, started with a dramatic, near-vertical rise from zero to roughly half the height of the purple spike, followed by a steady decline. “Does this mean anything to you?”  
  
“Looks like nerd stuff, Doc,” He shrugged. “But I’m sure you’d explain it anyway, even if I did understand it.”  
  
“You aren’t wrong,” Finitevus smirked. “My little device didn’t just record your location and your voice, but also your conflicts, and your energy levels during them. This is, essentially, your battle data. Not all of it, of course, but the important part.”  
  
“Alright, with you so far.”  
  
“The purple line represents your Anarchy power, your natural-born energies. They’ve remained at a consistent level, aside from this single instance where you became Super Scourge. It dropped after that, due to the burnout after turning back, but then returned once you had recovered,” He went on, Scourge nodding along as he took it in. “The green line, however, is your Chaos energy. The power you absorbed from the Master Emerald. As you can see, it’s been in decline lately.”  
  
“It has? Damnit, I thought it was a permanent shift!”  
  
“I’m afraid not. What you experienced was a sort of… half-Super transformation, unsurprising, considering that you were attempting a full shift when Locke interrupted you. Fortunately, you burnt a lot of that Chaos in your initial brawl with Sonic and Shadow, otherwise you could’ve met a sticky fate. The same would’ve happened if you had achieved a full transformation.”  
  
“Huh? Why?” Scourge asked, frowning.  
  
“Quite simple, really. Chaos and Anarchy do not mix. They are both volatile, and are complete opposites. As such, when brought together, they attempt to mutually destroy each other. Fortunately, as long as the Anarchy levels within your body are higher than the Chaos levels, you’re in no real danger. Using Chaos will probably make you feel ill, it may even cause pain, but it won’t kill you. If it had gone the other way, however… the Chaos would’ve consumed your entire reserve of Anarchy.”  
  
“Why’s that worse than losing all the Chaos?”  
  
“Biologically speaking you’re just not made for it. Spiritually, on the other hand, it’s even more dangerous. You see, Chaos, Anarchy, whatever the equivalent in your world, is the stuff of the soul. Everyone has it, but only the gifted have enough power to tap into it. Your very essence is Anarchy, and were you to have lost all of it, you likely would’ve had your soul extinguished. Which would, of course, kill you.”  
  
“Huh. Talk about a lucky break. So I guess my Anarchy levels are consuming the Chaos, and that’s reducing my power, right?” Scourge asked.   
  
“Yes, you have a finite reserve of Chaos and you’re burning through it,” Finitevus nodded, tenting his fingers. “I’m sure you want a solution to this problem. Either controlled re-injections of Chaos, or an alternate source to keep you as strong as you were before. That can be arranged, so long as you aid with my plans.”  
  
“Won’t lie, I’m interested…” Scourge narrowed his eyes. “But why help me? After I ditched you, and all?”  
  
“Not only are you a useful ally, but you might be the first being I could ever call a kindred spirit. Yes, your mental faculties are… lacking… but never before have I met someone else who shares the same appetite for destruction. For all your bluster about hedonism and conquest, once the facade dropped, it seems you harbour a desire to tear both of our worlds asunder.”  
  
  
“Well, neither of ‘em ever did anything for me, so why shouldn’t I destroy ‘em?” Scourge shrugged.  
  
“Of course, of course… Though your methodology leaves something to be desired. You know that destroying a planet would drain most of your power, yes? You wouldn’t be able to warp to another universe before you died,” Finitevus went on, making the green hedgehog frown.  
  
“I thought this was about why you want my help, not about why my methods for destroying worlds suck,” He growled.  
  
“Very well, I’ll cut to the chase,” The echidna shrugged. “Enerjak failed, but my ambitions have not ceased. I  _will_  burn this world. And when I’ve done it, I’ll let you use my weapon as well. In fact, we could even use your world as a test-drive for it.”  
  
“Now you’re speakin’ my language,” Scourge grinned, holding out his hand. Finitevus shook it, and then deactivated the computer. “You got yourself a deal, Doc.”  
  
“In that case, we shall begin immediately. I will prepare a controlled infusion of Chaos for you, until we can settle on a perfected remedy for your power issues. It will take some time, so you can begin with the first part of your end of the deal. It shouldn’t be too hard, just a simple retrieval mission… I will brief you all together, for now-.”  
  
“What about Simian’s arm?” Scourge cut in. “If you want me to take him, I want a guy with two arms.”  
  
“That has already been sorted. Go and gather the others. I will finish up here and be along shortly,” Finitevus waved him off.  
  
“You got it, Doc.”  
  
Scourge left the room, but as he did, he bumped into Fiona.   
  
***  
  
As the two had passed the ward, Fiona had excused herself, and followed. She remained out of their sight, creeping along just far enough away to not be noticed, but close enough that she could track them through this unfamiliar lair of the echidna’s, until she heard them talking from inside a room. Peering around the door, she spotted the various computers lining the wall, and pressed herself against the wall, listening closely.  
  
She heard it all. The explanation of Scourge’s powers, the risks of long-term exposure to Anarchy Energy, and finally, her heart stopped as she heard Scourge’s willingness to destroy both worlds, and that he had already made an attempt. He could’ve killed her in the collateral, without her ever knowing why! And not only did he not care, but he seemed more than willing to do it again, with Finitevus’ help…  
  
She felt short of breath, heartbeat pounding in her ears, blood running cold. That couldn’t be right, could it? No, no… he wasn’t a monster. He had his anger issues, of course, but surely he was just an angry man, not an omnicidal maniac. Sure, he was admitting to it and accepting the help of an actual omnicidal maniac, but it couldn’t be for real, right? He must’ve just been playing along, that was it.  
  
Fiona pushed herself off the wall, lost enough in her own rationalisations for Scourge’s words that she didn’t notice him leaving the room until he walked into her.  
  
The vixen stumbled back, but before she could fall, he caught her arm, pulling her upright again. For a moment, she smiled up at him, before she saw his stern expression, and he jerked her closer.  
  
“Spying, babe?” He asked, voice low.   
  
“N-no, I-I was just coming to let you know that the others are up!” She yelped, trying to free her arm. His eyes narrowed, and his free hand balled up, but Finitevus’ voice echoed from the room behind them.  
  
“Now now, Scourge. There’ll be plenty of time for that later. Let the girl go for now,” He admonished. The hedgehog growled, tempted to bite back, to snap at him for talking down on him of all people. But… if he wanted that weapon… He’d have to wait.  
  
He shook his head, and stormed away, shoving Fiona against the wall as he went.  
  
“Don’t lie to me again, got that?” He glanced back at her slumped form, and she nodded meekly as she pushed herself back to her feet, arms folded tightly, protectively.  
  
“S-sorry…” She mumbled. He snorted, turning away again, shoving his hands into his pockets as he kept walking.   
  
“You better be.”  
  
  
Fiona bit her lip, as Finitevus emerged from the room.  
  
“Having troubles?” He asked. She frowned, looking up at him.  
  
“What, are you a counsellor now?” She snapped. The last thing she wanted was relationship advice from a maniacal psychopath…  
  
“No, of course not. I merely want to avoid having two of my more useful servants cause problems for my plans…” Finitevus replied. “But you can consider me a sympathetic ear, if you wish.”  
  
Fiona narrowed her eyes for a moment, but let out a sigh, and leaned against the wall again.  
  
  
“It’s just… he’s so angry now… He wasn’t like this before. I mean sure, he’d get angry when I screwed up, but now it’s constant. Ever since he went to the prison… I never should’ve left him…”  
  
“Is that the lesson you took from this situation?” Finitevus asked. She snarled slightly, his tone sounded more mocking than ‘sympathetic’, as if he thought her stupid.  
  
“It’s my fault! If I’d stuck by his side, then maybe I could’ve saved him from being taken to the No-Zone!” The vixen growled.   
  
“Of course, of course you could have saved him…” He removed his glasses, wiping the lenses with a cloth he fished from within the folds of his cloak. “Still, if you think you’re to blame, well, your only option is to not give up, isn’t it?”  
  
“Yeah, I guess…”  
  
***  
  
An hour later, the Destructix had assembled in what appeared to be a briefing room of some sort. Neither Scourge, nor their employer were present.  
  
Fiona sat apart from the others, still with her arms crossed. The others clustered around Simian, inspecting his new arm, sleek and lifelike, golden segments with black energy contained within, visible beneath the plating. The gorilla flexed the metal limb, testing the motions, before the door opened, allowing Finitevus and Scourge to enter.  
  
Scourge flopped down next to Fiona, as Finitevus stood before them.  
  
“Welcome back, all of you. Your previous mission was a success, albeit you needed some help… Nevertheless, your rewards are forthcoming,” He began. “Of course, that’s not the end of this little meeting. Scourge, if you’d like to continue?”  
  
“Sure thing, Doc,” Scourge stood up, looking over his team. “Alright, listen up. Me and the Doc have decided that we’re gonna be working together on a little group project that’s gonna be mutually beneficial for us. Step one requires us to recover a Chaos Emerald from the Special Zone.”  
  
“But… wouldn’t we have to deal with Feist to get one from there? Why not steal one of the ones that’s already been brought to this world?” Fiona asked. Scourge glared down at her for a moment, before Finitevus’ voice cut in.  
  
“Ah, an excellent question!” He clasped his hands together, cutting off the hedgehog’s wrath, as a screen behind him lit up, displaying the seven stones. “In fact, that was my initial plan. I had specified the blue Emerald, previously held by Doctor Eggman, and the purple Emerald, previously held by Ixis Naugus, as viable targets. However, they have recently disappeared off the map. In addition, Naugus’ Chaos signature has been… extinguished, and the Eggman Empire recently suffered a crushing defeat. Whatever was powerful enough to strike such a blow to two of my rivals is not something I wish for you to engage with until I am certain of what we’re dealing with.”  
  
“What about the grey one?” Fiona asked. “And surely this mystery attacker can’t be harder to deal with than Feist?”  
  
“Currently in the hands of Mammoth Mogul, while the red and green ones are held by GUN,” Finitevus answered. “As for your second question, Feist will allow you to challenge him for one of his two remaining Emeralds. The others will simply fight you instead. I’m not interested in letting you fight an entire military, and the chance that whatever took the blue and purple ones won’t attack you as well is small. Overcoming Feist’s challenges will be a much easier task.”  
  
“Uh, who or what is Feist?” Lightning asked, speaking up.  
  
“Feist is an entity of unknown power, presumably similar to a god. He inhabits the zone where young Mr. Prower sent all the varied Chaos Emeralds of this universe, and forged them into the more powerful seven that we have now,” Finitevus replied. “He amuses himself by allowing those who enter his realm to compete in challenges of his own design. If they win, he will reward them with an Emerald. You will need to tread carefully with Feist, however you decide to approach. And that  _is_  something that’s up to you. All I care is that you bring me the Emerald. Now, make your preparations…”  
  
***  
  
Once the team was ready, Finitevus led them to the dead-end corridor where Warp Rings would function, handing two of the devices to Scourge. One would bring them from the Sanctuary to Mobius and back, the other from Mobius to the Special Zone and back.   
  
Once they had landed on the planet, arriving in a forest clearing in the middle of nowhere, Scourge winced at the sickening feeling that began to crawl over his skin. Thanks to Finitevus, he now knew what was causing it, but that didn’t make it any easier. He shook his head and turned back toward the group.  
  
“Okay, here’s the plan,” He announced, folding his arms. “Finitevus gave me a few extra primers on what Feist’s like, informed me that the guy likes to get tricky with people if they take backup in with them. He tries to keep ‘em. So, only one person’s going in. Me. The rest of you can do whatever.”  
  
As the Destructix began to disperse, Fiona allowed herself a small smile. He  _did_  care after all... Right?  
  
Her mind went back to the corridor in Finitevus’ lair. She’d pressed her back up against the wall outside the room that the two of them had been in, listening as they discussed the merits of destroying the world, as if that was their plan.   
  
Fiona bit her lip. She’d wanted to confront Scourge about it right there and then, but his rage and accusations of eavesdropping had cowed her. Wanting to destroy their worlds was a far cry from anything he’d wanted before, and definitely not what he promised her… It must’ve been something that started after she left. The ultimate expression of his anger. Anger that she knew she had caused.  
  
But he wasn’t going to sacrifice them to increase his chances of getting an Emerald from Feist. He’d even waited until they were away from Finitevus to say it, so maybe he wasn’t completely on board with the mad echidna’s plans. Maybe he was starting to calm down. Maybe this was her chance to save him, like she should’ve done before…  
  
“Scourge… can we talk?” She asked, approaching him carefully. He sighed, and frowned, but after rolling his eyes, he nodded.  
  
“Sure,” He grunted. She beamed, and walked a little further, closing the distance between them. Slowly, she took his hands in her own, holding them close.  
  
“Scourge, I’m… I’m sorry. For leaving you behind back in Knothole, for not saving you faster, for getting carried away with our act in the prison, for… well, for a lot of stuff,” She looked up at his face, his expression unreadable. “Scourge, I love you. And I want to help you, any way that I can. But… I don’t think we should work with Finitevus. This world-destroying plan, it… it’s crazy!  We’re… we’re just out for some fun, right? You and me, together against the world, but… not to that extent.”  
  
“Fi…”  
  
“I… I just want us to be happy. Let’s forget all of this, and just go be ourselves. Forget about Finitevus, about Sonic, about Miles… We don’t need them, and we don’t need to prove ourselves to them, we only need each other… Please…” She leaned closer to him, her hands slipping up to his shoulders.  
  
  
“Fiona, you’re a fucking idiot.”  
  
The vixen froze, then cried out as a fist slammed into her stomach. She doubled over, clutching at her abdomen as she felt the bile rising in her throat. Eyes stinging, she forced herself to look up, meeting a mask of rage just as he punched her square in the jaw, knocking her to the ground.  
  
“Who the hell gave you the right to second-guess me!?” He roared, looming over her.  “You’re nothing! You were  _always_  nothing! You were a nobody, an extra, until I made you my Queen! And then you threw that away, ditched me, and waltzed back in like you could go right back to the way you were before! No, not like before, like you were  _better!_  Like you, of all people, were the one in charge. Throwing your weight around while I had no powers, all for your stupid little plan! Did you really need to keep up appearances, or was it just the power trip?!”  
  
“S-Scourge, I’m sorry!” She yelped, reaching up, only for him to slap her hand aside.  
  
“No. No you’re not. Not yet, anyway,” He snarled.  
  
Scourge raised his foot, and Fiona just rolled to the side before he could bring it down on her chest. Instinctively, her body fought back, kicking him in the shin. Unflinching, he kicked back, foot cracking against her spine as he propelled her across the dusty ground.   
  
“S-Scourge..” She whimpered, trying to force herself up, her strength faltering as his shadow fell over her again.  
  
“If you’d stopped at the apology, maybe this would’ve been different. That was good. It sounded like you were  _learning._  But you didn’t. You decided to ask me to  _stop._ ” He growled, launching another punch down at her. She curled up, his fist impacting dully against her legs. Snarling, his other hand forced them away, ignoring her pleas as her arms tried to push him away and striking her again. “I dunno why you think you’re important enough to make demands like that, but you’re not! You’re not more important than beating Miles, and you’re only  _here_  because I wanted to get one over on Sonic! You think I’d keep someone like you around if I didn’t steal you from him?!”  
  
Lying flat on the ground, with her legs pinned under one of Scourge’s hands, desperately trying to cover her face and force him back with her arms, Fiona’s desperate pleading for mercy was interrupted by his fist.  
  
“You’re a trophy! That’s all you ever were!” He snarled, and for a moment, her fear gave way to rage. She’d given up  _everything_  for him, she’d  _loved_  him, and he’d only ever seen her as his property, and only wanted her because of who she was with beforehand…  
  
Her hand lashed out, clawing at his face, and his assault stopped short as he stepped back.  
  
Scourge raised his hand to his own face, fingers tracing over the fresh scratches. He looked at his glove, observing the red stains on his fingertips, and sighed, closing his eyes. Glowing for a moment, the cuts knitted back together, and he turned back toward Fiona. His eyes opened, irises blazing purple.  
  
“You’re really,  _really_  going to regret that.”  
  
Fiona’s stomach dropped as he moved closer again. Before, he’d been angry, but now she felt  _hate_  radiating off of him. He didn’t yell, or raise his voice, or even speak. He just stepped back in, towering over her as his hand wreathed itself in amethyst fire. He brought it up, aiming it directly at her face.  
  
“Scourge, please-!” She was cut off when he unleashed the Anarchy Bomb, point-blank.  
  
  
Fiona screamed.  
  
  
As the smoke cleared, Scourge looked down at his victim to see that she’d managed to shield herself with her arms just as his blast went off. With no Chaos aura of her own, she’d taken the full brunt of the explosion, and both limbs were charred and burnt from the elbow down, but she was still alive. Unconscious, but still breathing.  
  
In a way, that pleased him. As his rage abated, he did wonder if he’d overreacted, but he shrugged it off. Finitevus could fix the damage, and she’d learn her lesson in time. She still had nowhere else to go, after all. It wasn’t like she was going to run away any time soon.  
  
Reaching down, he plucked her Warp Ring from her pocket, adding it to his own. She wouldn’t need it anymore. With that done, Scourge stepped over the catatonic vixen, dusting himself off as he fished the second Warp Ring from his pocket. He spotted the other members of his team, all staring at him with wide eyes.  
  
“What?” He growled. “She’s not dead. We’ll take her back to the Doc and he can patch her up.  Maybe she’ll actually learn her lesson this time… That said… I’m gonna go get that Emerald. If any of you try to help her while I’m gone, you’ll be joining her.”  
  
With that, he opened the Warp Ring and dived in.  
  
  
Scourge wasn’t quite sure what to expect of a place called the Special Zone. Other than knowing that it was where the Chaos Emeralds had ended up, and it was home to a godlike entity that decided to manifest as a giant panda, both physically and biologically, he had no frame of reference on which to form expectations.  
  
That said, a strange, near-empty expanse of shifting colours and large crystalline structures, populated with numerous, small, floating planetoids was probably what he should’ve expected.  
  
  
He touched down on one of the planetoids, landing heavily. As he straightened, he carefully walked around to what he assumed was the top of the sphere, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he did so.  
  
“Hey, Feist!” He yelled into the void, his voice echoing back at him. “I’m here for an Emerald!”  
  
  
For a while, it seemed like he wasn’t going to receive a response, but then, just as he was about to call out again, a shadow fell over him. Slowly, he turned toward it, and looked up to see the enormous form of the entity looming over him, peering down with fiery golden eyes.  
  
“ ** _Come for my last Emerald, have you…?_** ”  
  
“Last? I thought he said you had… nevermind,” Scourge muttered to himself. “Yeah, I’ll challenge you for it!”  
  
  
Feist laughed, his booming voice almost knocking the hedgehog over.  
  
“What’s so funny?” He grumbled, as the panda leaned down again, grinning.  
  
“ ** _You presume much if you believe that you can challenge Feist. It is I that shall challenge you._** ” The panda explained. “ ** _And secondly… you are not the only challenger I have seeking this Emerald…_** ”  
  
Feist turned, and reached out to grab another Planetoid that floated behind him, dragging it around until  it was roughly level with Scourge’s own. The hedgehog turned, and paused as he spotted the figure standing atop it.  
  
  
“Well… this just got interesting,” Emerl punched her fist into her palm, rolling out her neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won't say that I hope you enjoyed this arc. It was a grim one, and horrible things happened to just about the only sympathetic character. It was hard to write, and probably hard to read. 
> 
> Still, when the source material shows a character in an abusive relationship, and then shows a future version of that character with robot arms? It starts the gears turning. 
> 
> Still, next arc will be starting tomorrow, with part 2 on Friday, and it should hopefully wash the bitter taste of this one away.


End file.
